My co-passengers and I of the U.S. Boat to Gaza have now gone from “High-Seas Hippies,” according to the right-wing Washington Times, to participants in a flotilla full of “fools, knaves, hypocrites, bigots, and supporters of terrorism,” says Alan Dershowitz in his usual measured prose.
Poor Alan, he seems upset at our audacity not only to hope for humane treatment of the 1.6 million Gazans, who currently live under a cruel blockade, but to force the issue. To stop our boat before it could leave Greek waters, Israel’s Likud government gave itself a self-inflicted black eye and again brought the oppression of Gazans to worldwide attention.
This time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government did not even have to kill people to add to Israel’s growing “delegitimization” before the civilized world. Facing growing international condemnation, Netanyahu and his allies have reason to worry.
In recognition of our modest accomplishments, we U.S. boaters have now made it onto Dershowitz’s “Dishonor Roll!” At first reading of his intended insults, my laughter was uncontrollable. I’ve been called a lot of things before, but I cannot remember being labeled a “knave.”

NEW YORK, July 15 (Reuters) – Les Hinton, the top executive of Rupert Murdoch’s Dow Jones & Co, resigned on Friday after becoming a target of criticism for the phone-hacking scandal that occurred when he oversaw News Corp’s British newspapers.

Hinton stepped down as the British phone hacking scandal surrounding News Corp began to spread to the United States. He is the highest ranking executive yet to resign over a crisis that closed down the News of the World tabloid and scotched News Corp’s $12 billion attempt to buy out BSkyB.

I have watched with sorrow from New York as the News of the World story has unfolded,” Hinton wrote in a memo to staff after resigning as chief executive of Dow Jones and publisher of The Wall Street Journal.

“That I was ignorant of what apparently happened is irrelevant and in the circumstances I feel it is proper for me to resign from News Corp, and apologize to those hurt by the actions of the News of the World,” he added.

At the Wall Street Journal, news of Hinton’s departure was greeted by gasps and a stunned silence, despite much speculation in both London and New York that he could be toppled by transgressions that occurred on his watch.

Hinton’s resignation came on the same day that another top Murdoch confidante, Rebekah Brooks, stepped down as chief of News International, which is responsible for all Murdoch’s British papers. Brooks worked under Hinton when she was News of the World’s editor and he ran News International.

From l-r: News International Chairman and Chief Executive James Murdoch, News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brooks, Former spokesman for the Prime Minister and former editor of News of the World Andy Coulson, Prime Minister David Cameron/Getty Images; Reuters; AP

The scale of private links between David Cameron and News International was exposed for the first time last night, with the Prime Minister shown to have met Rupert Murdoch’s executives on no fewer than 26 occasions in just over a year since he entered Downing Street.

Rupert Murdoch has made a “full and humble” apology to the family of the murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler at a private meeting held at a central London hotel.

The global head of News Corporation “held his head in his hands” and repeatedly told the family he was “very, very sorry”, according to the Dowlers’ lawyer Mark Lewis.

He was very humbled and very shaken and very sincere,” said Lewis speaking outside the meeting at the five-star hotel. “I think this was something that had hit him on a very personal level and was something that shouldn’t have happened. He apologised many times. I don’t think somebody could have held their head in their hands so many times and say that they were sorry.”

“I realise that simply apologising is not enough. Our business was founded on the idea that a free and open press should be a positive force in society. We need to live up to this.

“In the coming days, as we take further concrete steps to resolve these issues and make amends for the damage they have caused, you will hear more from us”, says the statement, signed “sincerely, Rupert Murdoch”.

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